Parliamentary Scrutiny of Brexit in the EU-27 Pragmatic Cooperation with a Dominant European Parliament

Concerns about a democratic deficit in the European Union reached new heights in recent years, as the organization has had to address a number of highly politicized challenges. In this context, the question of how much oversight should be exercised by the European Parliament (ep) and national parliaments individually or collectively becomes increasingly salient. Against this background, this article argues that on the issue of Brexit the ep has been quick to carve out a role for itself. However, unlike in previous trade negotiations, national parliaments took a backseat on Brexit despite its potential impact on member states. This is largely due to the similarity of national and party positions on Brexit. In addition, the way the different interparliamentary bodies addressed Brexit reveals the limitations of these bodies in terms of their powers and the depth of their discussions.